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American Grown and Processed
American Grown and Processed
While the legality of CBD can be a somewhat convoluted topic, you can rest assured that Wai Natural’s products are legal in all 50 states.
The murkiness of this idea lies in the fact that there are different laws in different states, and even different law at state and federal levels. We will try our best to unravel the mystery for you. To give you an example, marijuana is illegal under United States federal law, although it has been legalized for medical use in several states. A federal law then had to be passed to prevent the prosecution of individuals who were breaking federal law while complying with their own state’s law (called the Rohrabacher-Farr amendment of 2014). But that is just one example involving medical marijuana. The rest of this article will be devoted to the legality of CBD.
The issue arises because CBD is a compound contained within plants of the Cannabis species. Marijuana, cannabis, and THC are all Schedule 1 compounds under the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act. Extracts of pure CBD currently lie within some gray areas of the law.
The law currently distinguishes between marijuana-derived CBD and hemp-derived CBD. Now, savvy readers with some science knowledge will know that a compound is a compound no matter where it comes from, and all CBD has the same chemical formula. Some of you may even know that marijuana and hemp are technically the same species of place - Cannabis sativa - albeit different varieties of that species. But the law is the law, and there are many laws on the books that don’t necessarily jive with current scientific knowledge and advancements.
One key difference between marijuana and hemp strains of C. sativa is the THC-to-CBD ratio found in the plant. Marijuana can contain as high as 30% THC. On the other hand, for a plant to be considered legally a hemp plant it must contain no more than 0.3% THC. THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis that is responsible for the intoxicating high associated with marijuana use.
Because hemp has so little THC in it, it has no intoxicating psychoactive effects, and thus the law has no problem with hemp. Hemp products are completely legal and available in all types of different industries and stores across America. Thus, CBD products derived from hemp are legal.
If a CBD product was derived from hemp, then it is legal. At Wai Natural, both our CBD Oil and our Hemp Oil are derived from industrial hemp plants containing less than 0.3% THC. We further guarantee our products are THC-free by offering lab reports for verification. Because CBD derived from hemp has no intoxicating effects, the purchase, sale, or possession of CBD products are completely legal in all 50 states.
Although the CBD compound itself is chemically identical, CBD products derived from marijuana run the risk of being contaminated with THC. Therefore, the legality of marijuana-derived CBD is more tricky. As a product isolated from marijuana, marijuana-derived CBD still classifies as a Schedule 1 compound under the DEA’s Controlled Substances Act and is illegal according to federal law.
However, some states have legalized the use of marijuana for medical reasons and even for recreational use. In these states, marijuana-derived CBD would be a legal product. And now, many states have CBD-specific laws specifically addressing marijuana-derived CBD.
So yes, it’s complicated. But to be safe, you should buy hemp-derived CBD – such as the products sold here at Wai Natural.
